DENVER--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Mountain BOCES (Board of Cooperative Education Services) unites the
needs of four Colorado Member Districts: Buena Vista School District
R-31, Lake County School District R-1, Park County School District Re-2
and Salida School District R-32-J. Although small, these districts share
the same passion as larger districts—improved online and blended
learning education through support, accountability and collaboration.
One of the keys to achieving this objective is equipping teacher
candidates and induction participants with the tools to take ownership
of their continuing education. This philosophy also applies to the
principals and teachers getting them there. A tool with increasing
responsibility in equipping them is the Mountain
BOCES’ website.

“In
order to see more educational institutions having success with their
websites, we’re teaching them how to rethink managing them”

Whether it’s principals and teachers inquiring about licensures,
certifications or inductions; or districts inquiring about the Tiered
Services Model that offers options to improve effectiveness and
accountability, Mountain BOCES’ website is their go-to-resource. Special
education and gifted education resources are made available to parents
and educators who visit the website. To efficiently serve the needs of
its diverse user base, Mountain BOCES turned to Colorado Interactive
(CI) and the Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA).

“I have no formal education in technology, and I’m the one who developed
the website,” said Director of Professional Learning, Rose Ley. “The
information on our previous website wasn’t maintained because it was
cumbersome. We’re a small group where each person functions in more than
one capacity. With the ease of our new website, I can make content
updates and so can other staff members.” Ley added, “Meeting compliance
with the Public School Financial Transparency Act is essential, as is
posting Board agendas and minutes. I appreciated the opportunity to
attend a webinar about 508 Accessibility Compliance.”

CI provides digital government services and training to state agencies,
local governments and educational entities through a contract with
SIPA—the official internet portal connecting the public with Colorado
governments. The partnership’s mission allows government leaders to
focus on delivering on-demand, digital government solutions without
requests for proposals or the use of tax appropriations. The CI/SIPA
partnership has benefitted more than 60 special districts and
educational organizations in Colorado.

To see more success in schools, BOCES rethinks school programming. “In
order to see more educational institutions having success with their
websites, we’re teaching them how to rethink managing them,” says
Colorado Interactive’s President and General Manager, Fred Sargeson.
“Our training and content management system gives them complete control
of their information so they can provide timely information to their
constituents.” Public educational entities in need of free website
development and hosting as well as payment processing through the
Colorado.gov Web portal, should contact SIPA.

About Colorado Interactive

Colorado Interactive (CI) is the team behind the official website of the
state of Colorado (http://www.colorado.gov)
and is overseen by the Statewide
Internet Portal Authority. The portal operates through a
public-private partnership between the state and CI to help Colorado
government entities web-enable their services. CI builds, operates,
maintains, and markets Colorado.gov and is part of the digital
government firm, NIC
(Nasdaq: EGOV).

About SIPA

Established in 2004 by the Colorado General Assembly, the Statewide
Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) is a self-funded government
organization created to be Colorado's single most comprehensive delivery
channel for electronic government (eGovernment) services. SIPA strives
to accelerate the adoption of efficient, effective electronic government
services by placing more government information and services online to
benefit citizens.

About NIC

NIC Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV) is the nation’s premier provider of innovative
digital government solutions and secure payment processing, which help
make government interactions more accessible for everyone through
technology. The family of NIC companies has developed a library of more
than 13,000 digital government services for more than 5,500 federal,
state, and local government agencies. Among these solutions is the
ground-breaking personal assistant for government, Gov2Go, delivering
citizens personalized reminders and a single platform for all government
interactions. More information is available at www.egov.com.